When speaking about Scotland's energy sector, former first minister and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon frequently underlined the value of meticulous preparation and foresight. The future of North Sea oil and gas production was the subject of one of her noteworthy remarks.

Although this industry had room to grow, Sturgeon understood that concentrating only on resource extraction without taking long-term sustainability into account was insufficient. She maintained that in order to support both present demands and future diversification into renewable energy sources, it was imperative to build the appropriate infrastructure.

This claim is comparable to planting a tree: you must make sure the soil is rich and the right circumstances exist for the tree to grow tall and sturdy, but you also need to take into account the possibility that this one tree may eventually shade other young saplings. In a similar vein, Sturgeon called on her government to establish strong foundations right away to support both the expansion of new, green energy sources and the continuation of current oil and gas operations.

She hoped that by advocating for a balanced strategy, Scotland could continue to benefit economically from conventional energy sources while simultaneously moving toward cleaner alternatives in response to environmental challenges around the world.